House Members Pledge to Oppose TPA in Letter to President Obama
Twenty-two members of the House of Representatives told President Barack Obama on Nov. 12 that they would oppose Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as fast-track. The law, which expired in 2007, sacrifices the congressional authority to set the terms of trade, said the letter, while requiring the House to vote in a definite period of time on bills designed to implement trade deals the administration strikes.
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“Under Fast Track, the executive branch is empowered to sign trade agreements before Congress has an opportunity to vote on them, and then unilaterally write legislation making the pacts’ terms U.S. federal law,” said the letter (here). “Fast Track allows the president to send these executive branch-authored bills directly to the floor for a vote under rules forbidding all floor amendments and limiting debate.” House members Walter Jones, R-N.C. and Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., spearheaded the signing of the letter.
“Some of us have opposed past trade deals and some have supported them, but when it comes to Fast Track, members of Congress from across the political spectrum are united,” said Jones in a press release (here), claiming the members are united in opposition. In contradiction of that assessment, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., urged the quick passage of TPA prior to the end of the legislative calendar (see 13103107). Congressman Dave Reichert, D-Wash., is whipping votes in the House for TPA, a spokeswoman for Reichert said on Oct. 30.